Spinal Discs

Thursday, 1 December 2016

Chiropractic Treatment for Severe Causes of Low Back Pain

Patients presenting with severe, progressive low back pain, fever, history of intravenous drug use and history of recent infection require additional imaging to rule out infection of the spine. Spinal infection is not a common cause of severe low back pain as it only affect about 0.01% of patients with back pain. However, spinal infection can cause significant pain in the back. Spinal infection can affect the spinal bone, the intervertebral disc, the spinal canal, or any combination of these. A negative X-ray imaging cannot rule out the spinal infection. This is because 30-50% of bony changes at the affected site are required before it can be shown on the plain film. MRI, magnetic resonance imaging of the spine is needed to diagnose or rule out spinal infection.

Learn more about back pain.

About 80% to 90% of lower back pain cases are diagnosed as non-specific low back pain as it is difficult to pin-point one structural or functional cause. In most cases of low back pain, the adjacent structures in and around the painful site such as the intervertebral discs, facet and sacroiliac joints, ligaments and muscles can all contribute to the pain. Therefore, an effective treatment program for lower back pain should include different modalities to address each and every component of the back pain.